The List
by Cantoris
Summary: Danny was counting on having a boy, knew what to do with a boy.  But a girl? He didn't want to screw up with his little girl.  Lindsay writes a helpful list for him on how to be a daddy for a daughter.
1. Chapter 1

So, yeah, apparently I'm back. And yeah, this is still very Lucy centric, mostly because my vice as a writer is father/daughter relationships. Don't ask me why, it just is.

Dedicated to my own dad, who will never be perfect and has never tried to be, but has always been my strong set of shoulders for perching, crying, snuggling, and sleeping.

I'll try to update once a day for a little over a week. Please enjoy.

* * *

It wasn't just family statistics that convinced Danny that he would have a boy: it was also that he had no idea how to deal with a little girl. Considering how long it took him to figure out Lindsay… a daughter would spin him about more than a twister and earthquake combined.

He didn't say anything when he picked Lindsay up at the airport. He didn't say anything in the car as he drove to their new, shared apartment. Because most of all, Danny didn't want to screw this up. Not this time.

"Danny, babe, will you tell me what you're thinking?" Lindsay asked as they sat side by side on the couch with take out cartons of Chinese food. She'd been craving their favorite sesame chicken which could not be found in Montana.

Danny didn't answer right away, but he knew he wasn't off the hook. Lindsay was patient with him. More patient than he thought he deserved sometimes and what if his daughter wasn't?

"I don't know how to raise a daughter," he finally admitted, so quietly he almost hoped she hadn't heard him. "What if I screw her up?"

Lindsay removed the cartons and chopsticks from his hands and set them on the coffee table next to her own. She took his hands in hers and waited until he looked up and met her eyes.

"I'll write you a list."

* * *

Coming up next: Treat her like a princess.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you all for reading and leaving comments. I'm glad you've enjoyed so far. Sorry, but this is really short, as you can tell. The others are a little longer, but not by much and that will just be the norm.

Strangely enough, I don't remember playing tea time with anybody.

_Treat her like a princess._

If five years ago, someone had told Danny that one day he would be sitting at a table no higher than his knee, cramped on a matching sized chair with gloves on his hands, fake jewelry on his wrists and neck and big, pink hat on his head, he'd have decked that person straight across his face.

But seated across from his little Lucy, he accepted his miniscule, plastic tea cup with a smile and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. It was so nice of you to invite me to tea.


	3. Chapter 3

_Tell her she's your best little girl._

She brings him a picture almost every week. Tuesday pictures go to Lindsay, Thursday pictures get mailed to Granny and Gramps in Montana. Monday pictures go to Mac (which make most of the lab techs smile in addition to their fearless leader) and Wednesday pictures go to Miss Olivia the babysitter. But every Friday, when Danny sees his little princess after school, she leaps into his arms, waving a sheet of paper just for him.

She draws baseball diamonds one week and a lighthouse the next. She colors family portraits for them all, but his copies always have Lucy in Daddy's arms. On bad days—because he knows you can't love your father unconditionally every day—she'll draw him in a time out chair. This generally happens after he's only let her have one cookie behind Mama's back and not two or three.

But every time he gets that piece of paper with her marks on them, he says to her, "You are my best little girl."


	4. Chapter 4

_Make sure she knows it's good to be smart._

He hates seeing her cry, just like her mama. It kills him that sometimes he's the cause of those tears, but not in this case.

"Carmen told me that boys don't like smart girls and she went and told Zach that I was a teacher's pet and a geek who reads every night because I can't think of anything else fun to do!"

The book report on the seven _Chronicles of Narnia_ books remains on the floor where Lucy had thrown in when walking in as Danny wraps his not-so-little girl in his arms, trying to soothe away the hurt.

"C'mere, Luce. I wanna tell you something." He waits for her to sniff one last time before she looks at him expectantly. "You wanna know why I fell in love with your mom?" Danny smiles. "Besides the fact that she's beautiful and brave, y'know? Your mom's one of the smartest ladies I know. And it's a lucky guy and a smart guy who likes a smart girl. So if ever there's a boy who don't like you 'cause you're smart, then he ain't worth it.

"Now, let's look at this, A-, huh? Luce, I am so proud of you. Tell me all about the project."


	5. Chapter 5

So, my dad has actually never bought me flowers in my entire life. But when I realized that, I also realized that he will buy me the mints I like or my favorite iced tea or other drinks that he knows I love. Let's say my dad is very unique in how he shows his love.

_Buy her flowers for every school play, ballet recital, birthday, and special event._

When she was a tiny little thing, he'd get her daisies or carnations. Relatively hardy blossoms that could stand a little manhandling as she set about to destroy them through experimentation. Dance recitals and school plays, he'd go more traditional with roses and baby's breath, but he'd choose non-traditional colors like lavender, orange, or yellow with pink tips.

But her favorite flowers of all were sunflowers. Bright, sunny, and gigantic and first discovered on a vacation to Montana, those were Lucy's special treat. He bought her sunflowers when she got her first ribbon in a science fair. He bought her sunflowers when she got her wisdom teeth removed. He bought her sunflowers when she got her acceptance letter.

Sometimes, Lindsay gave him a hard time about buying more flowers for his daughter than for his wife. When Lucy was around, Danny would joke that he was just following orders. When they were alone, Danny showed his wife love in other ways. And the next day, he'd get some tulips for Lindsay and some for Lucy, just because he could.

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AN: Despite being without my laptop (virus!) I had decided to upload as many chapters onto the site itself, which now seems to be an extraordinary case of foresight as it's not something I typically do. That is how you have kept receiving updates whenever I've gotten to my parent's computer. I can go as far as chapter 7, after that, it's dicey. We'll have to wait and see what the nice Geek Squad people say about my baby.


	6. Chapter 6

So, my dad has never bought me flowers, but I've been riding a motorcycle since I can remember. Dad's rule was you sat in front until you were tall enough to reach the pedals for the back seat. I was more devastated when he sold his motorcycle than he was. The pants and tied shoes rule is from him. Lucy's line at the end is mine.

_Teach her to embrace adventure._

At first, Lindsay was absolutely adamant that Lucy would never ride that motorcycle with him. She refused to even discuss the option until Lucy was nearly eight years old and still wasn't too pleased that Danny had kept the piece of machinery at all.

But one day, Danny and Lucy were out running errands and he had to buy a new pair of boots where Lucy saw the bright purple helmet with white flames and fell in love. Danny had never been able to resist those eyes, especially when it was something he wanted to share with his daughter.

With Lindsay glaring the whole time, Danny carefully checked that Lucy was dressed in full length pants, tied-on sneakers, and long sleeves with the helmet firmly secured. Lucy was nearly vibrating with excitement as he lifted her onto the seat and made sure her feet reached the pedals. He got on in front of her and then positioned her arms firmly around his waist, locking her hands tight in front of him. He kicked off and maneuvered around the traffic to the lesser used streets that were less congested.

All the while, he heard her shrieking over the sounds of traffic, wind, and engine.

"Faster, Daddy! Faster!"

* * *

AN: Still bumming my friend's laptop while she's staying with me, but today is the last day. I might be able to get to my parent's computer for Monday, definately Tuesday. Still waiting for GS to call me, but I'll be calling them soon if they don't.


	7. Chapter 7

_Keep her safe, even from herself._

"No, Lucy."

"Dad, it's just one night and if anything happens, you're like, five minutes away."

"Luce, I do not want you spending the night at Dana's when her parents aren't home. You're only fourteen."

"Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you. This isn't about trust."

"You don't want me to do anything fun! I hate you!"

The door slammed and Lindsay came up and put a hand on his shoulder. "She'll get over it."

"Yeah."

He called a friend on the swing shift to cruise by the apartment in question later that night and was relieved to hear that nothing was amiss. Lucy wouldn't talk to him the next morning, or the next few days after that.

But when she read online about another slumber party that had been crashed by older kids who brought booze and drugs and wrecked the place just because there were no adults home, she gave him a quick kiss on his cheek.

* * *

AN: Yay for Geek Squad! My baby's back!


	8. Chapter 8

It's also very rare for my dad to dance with me. I considered myself lucky when I got half a dance with him at my brother's wedding and another half at my best friend's wedding.

But my dad and I will break into song, something from church where we both sing in the choir. And boy have we gotten some strange looks from folks over the years.

_Dance with her at every occasion you can._

He danced with her held securely at his hip, one arm around Lindsay while his wife kept one arm around him and the other on their daughter's back.

He danced with her when she could only place her tiny feet on his and her hands locked around his fingers.

He danced with her at family and friend's weddings, when she looked so pretty in her fancy dresses and hair-dos.

He watched her dance when he supervised school dances; he knew not to even think about dancing with her then.

He danced with her on stage, after her recitals as she would try to teach him the routines and he would deliberately get them wrong to see that cute little frown appear on her face as she tried to teach him once again.

But his favorite times of all to dance were when a song would come on the radio in the privacy of their home. Lindsay or he would be cooking, the other most likely looking over lab results or some other work. And Lucy would come waltzing up, seize his hands from whatever task he was performing and pull him to the open space of the floor.

And he danced with her, spinning her around and lifting her up into the air only to spin her again until they were both breathless with exertion and laughter.


	9. Chapter 9

_Sometimes, you just need to listen._

She had come to him about childish woes: scraped knees and mean words of the other kids. He had been spared a lot of the boy troubles and he thanked God and Lindsay for that, though he still heard some of it. And he had thought that when a breakdown in communication would happen, it would be due to different thoughts on appropriate teenage fashion, or curfew, or even said boy problems. But not this.

"Dad, no one does bug collections any more for science fairs."

"Well, you already did a volcano and a study on the solar system. If you want to do something new, you can do a catalogue of butterflies or an ant farm."

"No bugs."

"What about magnets?"

"No."

Danny kept giving suggestions, and eventually, Lucy stopped answering and shrugged in response to him. Twenty minutes later, Danny gave up and waited for his daughter to meet his eyes.

"What's going on, Luce?"

Lucy looked so nervous and awkward and Danny's fatherly and investigative instincts went into overdrive, preparing him for the worst.

"I don't want to do the science fair this year," she whispered.

He just barely stopped himself from laughing in relief. "Lucy, why didn't you just tell me?"

"Cause you and Mom are always so happy to see me do the fair and I didn't want to disappoint you."

Danny shook his head and pulled Lucy into his arms. "Whatever you do, science, theatre, sports, don't matter what. You do what you love and you do your best and I will always be proud of you."


	10. Chapter 10

And now, I say au revoir. Like all things, this too must come to an end. And really, I had to end with this one as you'll see. I feel I've been neglecting mothers lately, so maybe a Lindsay/Lucy story or oneshot will happen, but I have nothing in the works as of right now. Thanks for coming with me on this ride; I really didn't expect the amount of attention for this that I got. If you enjoy this, you might want to check out my oneshot _Remember_ which focuses much more on Lucy herself. Happy reading, folks, and thanks again.

Enjoy.

* * *

_Above all, love her._

Lindsay was asleep, the team had gone home and the hospital was quiet. Danny stood by the window, looking out at the New York City skyline, holding his infant daughter in his arms. She, too, was asleep, swaddled in the soft, pink blanket and white cotton cap over her head.  
"Hey, baby girl," Danny said quietly. "You don't have a name yet, but I'm working on your mom about that. Gotta tell ya, babe, you sure threw me for a loop, you know that? You're like your mom already 'cause she's been doing it for years now."

Danny swayed from side to side, just a little, as his baby squirmed ever so slightly.

"Grandma and Grandpa are flying in tomorrow. They'll probably be the only grandparents you'll know, but I don't think you'll ever regret that. My family…I'm not so sure I want them any where near you.

"But you'll have more family then you'll know what to do with. I mean, the whole lab has been practically involved in this whole thing already and some of the cops. We asked Mac to be your godfather and I swear, baby, that if anything happens to us, he will take such good care of you. Mac'll teach you so many things, like he's done for your mom and me. Hawkes and Adam will get you into all sortsa trouble, and then Stella and Flack will be there to get you out of it and give them all the blame."

Danny looked down and saw big blue eyes staring back at him. One look, and Danny knew he was hooked for life. There was nothing he wouldn't do for those eyes.

"Hey, baby girl, look at you there." Here Danny paused, collecting the thoughts that swirled around. "Now, I wasn't expecting a girl, so you're mom's done a lot of the prep work. I'm not so good with girls, any age, and your mom will be the first one to tell you that. I can't say I'll be perfect, 'cause that's just not gonna happen. I won't always understand how to play with dolls, or puberty, and I'll probably want to smack around any boy who looks at you. I'll be mean and tell you you can't stay out after dark and no clubbing or smoking or drinking 'til you're legal. I might not get you everything you want, but I'll do my best. And I want you to always know, I swear to you, that I will love you as long as there is breath in my body."


End file.
